Locavore Albacore Tuna Nicoise Salad
Ingredients
- Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Salad
- 2 grilled US troll-caught albacore tuna steaks* (8 oz each) or 2-3 cans of custom-canned tuna
- 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and either halved or quartered
- 10 small new red potatoes (each about 2 inches in diameter, about 1 1/4 pounds total), each potato scrubbed and quartered
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 small ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into eighths
- 1 small red onion, sliced very thin, soaked in salt and lemon juice
- 8 ounces green beans, stem ends trimmed and each bean halved crosswise
- 1/4 cup niçoise olives
- 8 anchovies (optional)
Method
*Marinate tuna steaks in a little olive oil for an hour. Heat a large skillet on medium high heat, or place on a hot grill. Cook the steaks 2 to 3 minutes on each side until cooked through.
1 Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, garlic mustard in medium bowl; season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
2 Bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and cook until potatoes are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon (do not discard boiling water). Toss warm potatoes with 1/4 cup vinaigrette; set aside.
3 While potatoes are cooking, cut tuna into 1/2-inch thick slices, coat with vinaigrette. Mound tuna in center of platter. Toss tomatoes, red onion, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste in bowl; arrange tomato-onion mixture next to tuna. Arrange reserved potatoes in a mound at edge tomatoes.
4 Return water to boil; add 1 tablespoon salt and green beans. Cook until tender but crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain beans, transfer to reserved ice water, and let stand until just cool, about 30 seconds; dry beans well. Toss beans, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste; arrange in a mound at edge of other ingredients.
5 Arrange hard boiled eggs, olives, and anchovies (if using) in mounds around he salad. Drizzle eggs with remaining 2 tablespoons dressing, and serve immediately.
Hayes Street Grill
320 Hayes Street
(between Gough and Franklin)
San Francisco
www.hayesstreetgrill.com
Chef Rob Zaborny is a real advocate for local, sustainable seafood (and everything else) .He's worked at Hayes Street Grill for five years.
Sustainable seafood tips:
1. Seafood is healthy, delicious and easy to cook
2. However, it's important to make sure people are buy seafood that's caught sustainable, ethically (and where possible, locally)
3. Everyone is buying organic milk and free-range eggs - they should also buy seafood that is endorsed by organizations like Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch.
4. There are many great fisheries on the West Coast, so ask the person at the fish counter what's in season, what's wild, what is sustainably-caught.
5. Wild Pacific Albacore is in season at the moment, it is troll-caught off the west coast - "Caught one at a time in the Pacific Northwest" - (they are using this fish for the Salad Nicoise)
6. If people want more information about US troll-caught albacore they can visit www.PacificalAlbacore.com or go to www.montereybayaquarium.org.
Slow Food Nation Event
Happening around Labor Day Weekend
www.slowfoodnation.org
San Franciscans can taste an array of delicious local fish including Wild Pacific Albacore at Slow Food Nation at the Fort Mason Center, in San Francisco on the 30th and 31st of August.
For tickets and information visit www.slowfoodnation.org.
For more information about the fantastic Hayes Street Grill go to www.hayesstreetgrill.com.
Fish: The Challenge of Sustainable Seafood
Fort Mason Center
Included with Taste Pavilions Ticket: $45 - 65
Saturday, August 30: 11am - 3pm & 5pm - 9pm
Sunday, August 31: 11am - 3pm & 5pm - 9pm
The Fish Pavilion's lure is an exhibit and forum of professional fishers demonstrating their practices and discussing the state of our marine environment. Its hook is a display of locally caught seafood -fresh off the boat!- with information about how each species was caught and brought to the event. Visitors can taste fresh and cured seafood prepared by outstanding local chefs and can explore seafood's complex story beyond the plate. FISH will feature seafood that is in season and available locally during the event. Likely options include sardines, squid and albacore tuna served smoked, pickled, grilled and in confit by an eclectic mix of Bay Area restaurants. People will have the opportunity to meet the men and women who catch their fish and other seafood.
